summertime, and the upstairs is hot again

Ever had to have a central air conditioning unit repaired? For those of you who haven't, it's highly overrated. We've had ours repaired twice in the past couple of weeks. Turns out it's nearing death, so the husband of a work associate is coming out to give us an estimate on a new one. That's two-and-a-half tons of fun, baby, yeah!

Sara arrived home safely from camp yesterday around noon. The two things she said she missed most? Bottled water and television. When I got home, she met me at the door and hugged me. And she kept on hugging me for about 30 seconds. It's nice to be missed by my daughter. Sara had a great time at camp, making new friends and hanging out with old friends. (She's only nine, how old can they be?)

We played the game Life last night. When did this change so drastically? I remember you used to get your car, get married, have a few kids and spin the wheel. That was about it. I didn't have the game at home, so I remember always wanting to play it when I went to visit my cousin, Mark. Even when he didn't want to play it, I'd play by myself. So we start playing last night, and you start right off with a change - you have to choose from two paths: college or career. If you choose college, it costs $100k, and you have to borrow the money. For every $20k you borrow, you pay back $25k. There are career cards that you draw to choose your job. You have salary cards that you pick and choose from. Your tax rate is about 40%. You have the option to buy a house. There's homeowner's insurance, car insurance, stocks to be purchased. Maybe next time we play, I'll appreciate it more. I just wasn't prepared to read the directions after each spin.

Meg comes home this afternoon. Susie, Jennifer and Ken have been painting and redecorating her room this week, and it looks wonderful. That's what she wanted for her birthday, so she found a comforter at Ralph Lauren while on vacation, and they planned the color scheme around it. Three walls light green mist, one wall coral/rose. Pretty cool looking. The crew did a fantastic job!